The Agreement
by badjujube
Summary: Eclipse AU. Bella/Aro. Super creepy. Is that a genre? Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: This travesty is unbetaed, perverse and completely ill-advised. And, I don't own Twilight. Which you'll no doubt realize is a good thing after you see what I did with these poor, innocent characters.**

"_**Diplomacy without arms is like music without instruments."**_

_**-Frederick the Great**_

Honestly, it should have been strange, standing there so many months later. But I knew that this, or something like this, was coming, so standing in front of those three black thrones in that marble hall felt inevitable. So inevitable that I wasn't nearly as nervous as I should have been. This was a relief since the twenty or so immortals in the room could hear my heartbeat and might decide to eat me anyway, without letting me talk to them.

"Isabella." My name rolled off Aro's tongue the same way it had in my memory. I thought I'd imagined the fluidity, the _care_ he invested in my name.

He may have also been wearing the same suit as the last time I stood before him. The blackness of it cast his pale face with it's classical features into sharp relief. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him.

Still, I bowed my head deferentially to the three vampire kings. A formal curtsey seemed like too much, but a wave or simple "Hello" seemed like too little. Like I said, I had thought this moment out pretty exhaustively in the last few months. I knew I only had this one tiny thing, this one tiny chance.

Alec, Jane, Demitri and Felix flanked me, the way they had before, but they had given me more space this time. I was less of a flight risk than Alice and Edward had been, I assumed.

"It's a pleasure to see you again," Aro's soft voice and cheerful grin were just as disconcerting as they had been before, especially as he glided closer to me, his hands outstretched.

"Forgive me," he said, smiling with theatrical chagrin. "I simply _must_ try again." He reached his hands out to me, waiting for me to place my hand in his. I complied with a tremor.

His cold, steel hands slipped over mine, one on the bottom, one sliding over the top. He closed his eyes, an almost dreamy smile gliding onto his lips. Then his red eyes popped open with a childlike, delighted smile.

"Remarkable." He relinquished my hand and took a step back. Then, glancing around the room to make sure the attention of the room was on him, he spoke again.

"I wish I could say I was surprised to see you unchanged, Isabella. Young Edward is quite stubborn, is he not?"

I nodded and tried to make my face as apologetic as possible, although Aro had to know that I had little control over my transformation.

"Unfortunately, we _do_ have laws and, especially sad for_ you_, the Cullens have violated them." Aro gave a deep, dramatic sigh and gave me a regretful look.

"But, since you show such potential, and the circumstances _are_ clearly out of your control, I would like to extend to you a choice." Aro was doing his best to convince both the crowd and me that he was showing mercy. I anticipated, had hoped for, what I knew was coming next.

"I will leave the decision up to you, my dear Isabella. Instead of being killed, you may be changed and join us here in Volterra. I believe you would make an excellent addition to our guard and we would be thrilled to have you stay."

This choice, obviously not the choice I dreamed of when I fell in love with Edward Cullen, was my last, best option. I had lost the option of living a normal life the second I whispered "vampire" to Edward in that clearing in the forest. My choices had narrowed down to immortality or death the moment I appeared here in Volterra this past spring. Changing and joining the Volturi, if the opportunity presented itself, had become my only alternative to death when I split up with Edward upon our return to Forks and refused to have anything to do with the family that had left me to wither when he left me in the woods.

"Thank you," I nodded solemnly, the way I had practiced, to each of the three leaders. "It would be a pleasure to join you."

I wondered how many rooms they had that had modern plumbing. I couldn't imagine that they had many human guests, so the fact that this bedroom they had shuffled me to was so well equipped surprised me. Then I wondered how I had the presence of mind to think of plumbing when I would be transformed into a vampire and consigned to a life among these strangers any moment now. It was like looking at myself from the outside. I collapsed on the couch in weary overwhelm.

Almost immediately there was a light knock and the door opened. Because I guess you didn't have to wait to be invited in here.

Aro entered. I rose but he gestured for me to sit back down. He took a seat in an armchair a few feet from me. He looked as regal as he had sitting in his throne. He folded his hands in his lap and regarded me with an almost thoughtful look for a moment before speaking.

"I wonder if you would indulge me for a moment, Isabella. I have a matter I wish to discuss with you before we arrange for your transformation."

"Of course, Sir." I sat up, attempting to match his posture. Although part of a triumvirate, Aro was clearly the most influential of the brothers. He was also the most…approachable. I needed to please him to continue to survive, in some form or another.

Aro gave another theatrical sigh like he had given in the marble room and regarded me with a look that felt almost as though we were commiserating.

"It's the matter of the Cullens, I'm afraid." He looked at me with an exaggerated affect of sadness. "There is still the issue of their violation of the rules, especially your Edward." I had known that this may happen and, although I tried not to blame my former friends, I hadn't exactly exonerated them either. I may have cut them out of my life but I still didn't want them hurt. Unfortunately, I feared that I had less than no power in this situation and the fact that I had saved my own life, such as it was, was a minor miracle.

"I'm afraid that even if you desire some sort of vengeance…it is a high price to pay for an innocent romance gone astray. But, there must be a consequence for their failing to follow my directive." I had no idea what Aro was going to do to them and I looked at him with concern.

"I don't want anything to happen to them. I didn't allow them to come near me, they couldn't have changed me without violating my wishes."

"I understand Isabella, but I'm afraid there is still the issue of their _non-compliance_." He said the word with a wince. He got up and walked gracefully to the window and, after pausing, turned around and spoke. "I have a…_compromise_ to offer you. Something that would allow the Cullens to remain unharmed." I nodded to him to continue.

"I'm afraid it's a bit unorthodox which is why I wanted to speak to you privately." Aro glided away from the window to a spot behind the armchair. His affect had gone from dramatic to arid formality.

"I will agree to let the Cullens remain unharmed, although the penalty for their actions should _rightfully _be their destruction, if you will agree to be my mistress."

It was the last thing that I expected out of the mouth of this polite, somewhat flamboyant man. I stared at him in shock.

"I know this comes as a surprise and it must seem like terrible manners on my part." His voice was kind and gentle again and he sat back down in the armchair facing me.

"I apologize for the crudeness of my request but you must let me explain." I nodded stiffly and he continued.

"I have been alive for three thousand years and, to be frank, I have never been able to enjoy the feel of a woman's skin without hearing every thought she ever had. What you offer, quite simply, Isabella is a completely unique experience that I never thought I would be able to have."

He got up again, seemingly nervous, and paced over to the window again.

"I understand that as a young woman of your upbringing and time in history, you would generally expect to have an emotional relationship with someone before engaging in relations with them. I can only respond by saying that this expectation is a product of your time, a social construct, if you will, and not one that has always been the prevailing attitude." He smiled at me, his sly charm reappearing. "I believe that it would be a pleasurable relationship for you as well. At least, I would do my best to make it so."

Aro got up and moved back over to where I sat, speechless at his proposition.

"You have questions and concerns." His voice was soft and concerned again.

"I…but you're married." I blurted it out. Then I couldn't believe myself that his marital status was my first concern.

"Yes," he said patiently. "I am married. My wife will not attempt to harm you in any way, I assure you." He waited for my next question.

"Will you wait until I am changed?"

"I understand your concern as I clearly lack the…discipline that your former paramour had. I would like to attempt to be intimate before you are changed. I simply can't imagine passing up the opportunity." His look when he said this was so lascivious, so lustful, I actually found myself shivering in..what? Was I responding to him in kind? I realized that I was not…repulsed by the thought of being with him. Far from it. This surprised me.

"Of course, it _is_ a dangerous undertaking and I will make every attempt at control. If I fail and you are injured, I will change you then."

"For how long? How long would we…" my voice trailed off.

Aro folded his hands pedantically. "I think a period of five years would be a sufficient commitment at the outset, renegotiable at that point." His face was so polite and calm again I wondered if I imagined the lust that had overtaken it moments before.

"I will say," he added. "The Volturi are as political an institution as any and it would serve you well to have an important_ ally_. But, of course, _that_ will be up to you."

I took a deep breath before I asked to most confrontational question I had for this powerful vampire who could have chosen to just snap my neck for my lack of respect.

"I don't mean to be impertinent," I said cautiously. "But I don't understand how the Cullens will be…dealt with if I agree to…" I was reluctant to mention it but I didn't see how the Volturi could let them get away with not following an order. There had been at least thirty vampires in the room when Aro told Alice and Edward that they had to either change me or kill me.

"That's simple, my dear child." Aro's voice had dropped back down to a hypnotic whisper. "I will invite Edward here to see how I am taking what was his."

I was so shocked I gasped.

"I understand that it will be…embarrassing for you, but understand me, Isabella." Aro drew closer to me and I was too mesmerized by him to even look away. "I make the effort to be civil and polite for the sake of maintaining the peace. But I am not a gentleman; I am a three thousand year-old vampire. If I have to remind the Cullens and the rest of the immortal community this by taking possession of you in the oldest way known to man, I will."

And then, as suddenly as it began, his growling declaration ended and his face was, as before, serene and smiling.

"The alternative, my dear, is inviting them all here and tearing them limb from limb. The choice is yours." His voice was light and airy and he leaned back and folded his hands on his lap again. I could have convinced myself that I imagined it all but for the thud of my heart and the heat in my throat and chest.

I had no choice at that point, for a variety of reasons. "I will take the deal." I hardly recognized my own voice. Aro didn't look surprised.

"I'm so glad," he said, almost primly. "I think I'll leave you to rest and recuperate a bit from your long flight." His words reminded me that I had woken up in Forks some twenty hours before and gotten ready for high school. Now I was in Italy about to lose my virginity to a three thousand year-old monster that I wanted more desperately in this moment than I could recall ever desiring my eternally seventeen year-old boyfriend.

"Shall I come back tomorrow evening at this time?" he suggested. I nodded mutely.

He got up as if to leave but instead he stood in front of me gesturing for me to stand up. I rose shakily and took his proffered hand.

"Isabella, may I kiss you?" He was again wearing the voice and mannerisms of a Victorian gentleman.

"Yes," I said.

He leaned down very slowly, very tentatively, his hand touching my cheek. His lips met mine, feeling a thousand times colder than Edward's ever had. The pressure increased ever so slightly and I shifted, unable to stop myself, so that the angle changed. Just as a miniscule gasp escaped my lips he pulled back, that sly smile on his face again.

"Until tomorrow, Isabella," his voice was a whisper now. All I could do was stare as he flitted from the room as quietly and as gracefully as he'd come. I collapsed back onto the couch and placed my hand on my overheated forehead.

**a/n: I think it's going to be three chapters. Maybe four. Please stop me. **


	2. Chapter 2

_**Monster obnoxious a/n: This is wildly inappropriate and this chapter especially requires a stern Defcon level 1 warning. This one is gory and ultra-rapey feeling. I don't intend for this to be prurient but when I tried to write a deflowering between a teenage girl and a three thousand year-old vampire megalomaniac this is what came out. The delightful Genny910 betaed it for me. She called it a Twilight snuff fic. **_

"_**Power always sincerely, conscientiously, de très bon foi, believes itself right. Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views, beyond the comprehension of the weak. "**_

_**-John Adams**_

There was no clock in the room, but I knew that I had slept late. I thought for a moment of the wristwatch I'd left on the bathroom counter back in Forks, but the thought was too disorienting, and I quickly squashed it. I had that groggy feeling you get when you oversleep after having been awake for far too long.

Either I had slept soundly, or the vampires hosting me were extremely quiet, because there were things in my room that hadn't been there when I went fitfully to sleep the night before.

First, a saran-wrapped sandwich and a lukewarm coke on the coffee table. Second, a pile of clothing and a tiny cosmetic bag on the bathroom counter.

The sandwich didn't look terribly fresh, but I was starving, having had nothing to eat for at least a day. I wolfed it down and then got up the courage to try the door. Locked.

It was a relief, really. Where would I go? It hardly seemed safe to wander the halls here.

The next thing to attend to was my clothes. I'd now been wearing the same clothes for at least thirty-six hours. I went to investigate the pile in the bathroom.

There was a black silk dress, a more conservative cut than I would have expected. There were also some fairly plain but expensive-feeling undergarments. I tried to decipher what the intent was here. I guess my expectation was that a man would want his mistress-my mind reeled a little at the word-to dress more provocatively than this. The most scandalous item here was the shoes. A pair of black sandals with high heels and a dozen tiny straps around the foot and ankle. I blew out a tense breath. I wasn't sure I could walk in shoes like these. _You won't need to walk, _a voice that sounded ominously like Aro's sounded in my head.

I shook my head to try to clear these thoughts out.

I took a long shower and began to get dressed. The dress fit me perfectly, as if Alice had picked it out. It had a shallow V-neck and little sleeves, and it fell to my knees. The cosmetic bag held a few make-up items and a packet of hairpins. Like the dress and shoes, everything had unfamiliar Italian labels. I took my cue from the items in the bag and pinned my hair up as well as I could. I put on some mascara and lipstick.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked…elegant and more grown-up than I would have thought I could look. I also didn't look like any American teenager's idea of "dressed up for a date." It occurred to me then-quite viscerally-that a different brand of vampirism wasn't the only thing about my new life that was alien to me. These were ancient Europeans. Their thoughts and standards and manners were going to differ wildly from what I was accustomed to. Even the Cullens were American, apart from Carlisle. I was so out of my depth in so many ways. My head began to swim again.

Then I thought about the attraction I had felt last night to that creature, that manipulative, powerful, unpredictable self-described monster. In the light of day it was just a memory. Thinking about him now, imagining being intimate with him, made my insides squirm. But in his presence I had been disarmed, aroused. Would that feeling return and be enough to make this bearable? I had a hard time thinking about being with him for one night, let alone five years. My anxiety was compounded by the fact that I had yet to be with _anyone_ that way. My experiences of the few years had _frozen_ me, in some sense.

There was a knock on the door. I expected someone to walk in, but when I didn't respond, they knocked again. I jumped up, still barefoot, and went to the door.

"Um, come in?" I didn't know what to say. The door was locked. I could hardly just let them in.

The door opened, and two vampires stood outside with two chairs and a table.

One of them spoke. "We need to prepare your room for dinner." I noticed that neither of them would make eye contact. In fact, they came in and began rearranging the furniture without so much as looking at me.

They set up a table with one place setting and two chairs, a tablecloth, candles and all. There was just an empty glass on the other side. I flitted nervously from the couch to the bathroom mirror. When they had finished setting the table, including a covered plate, I finally put on the impossible shoes.

They left, and within a minute there came the next knock on the ancient door. Aro entered without pausing, as before.

"My dear Isabella." He took both of my hands and led me from the couch to my seat at the table. "You will forgive me for not dining with you?" I mumbled something to indicate my assent.

He seated himself across from me at the empty side of the table and gestured for me to begin. I lifted the silver dome off of my plate to reveal some sort of ravioli and vegetables. Aro rose again to pour me a glass of red wine. He sat back down and raised his empty glass. I tentatively copied him.

"To new beginnings," he said. I murmured his toast back to him and drank. I was unused to alcohol, but the wine tasted good.

"I hope it's to your liking?" His inquiry seemed sincere.

"It's very good. Thank you." I tried to smile but my face felt numb.

I did my best to eat the food. It was very good, but I was so anxious that I found it hard to swallow. I did manage to finish two glasses of wine and, because I wasn't used to the alcohol, I felt somewhat more relaxed.

Aro kept the conversation going largely on his own. He was quite entertaining, telling me about Volterra and its history. I wasn't sure how much I would remember of it but it put me at ease, nonetheless.

Things were a little fuzzy, but pleasantly so, when I put my fork down. Aro helped me over to the couch and sat down quite close to me.

"Isabella," he breathed my name out, brushing his fingers across my cheek.

Then he pursed his lips, and his tone shifted from appreciative to polite and solicitous. "Tell me, did you ever do _this_ with your Edward?" I shook my head at him. "Perhaps with a young human, then?" I shook my head again. The question of whether I was attracted to him was answered then when he gave me that same sly, lascivious smile from the night before, and I lost my breath temporarily.

"What a rare treasure you are, my dear." His touch on my face became more insistent as his fingers slid down across my lips and stopped at my chin. "What a privilege."

He bent his neck, and his face came closer to mine. I held as still as I could, remembering my first kiss with Edward. His lips touched mine and then quickly forced them apart as his tongue slipped shallowly between my lips. He pressed his cold hard mouth against mine. After less than a minute he pulled away from me with a sharp breath, and I saw blood on his lips.

I gasped, but he smiled, his mouth twisting, red with my blood.

"Oops!" He gave a sharp laugh, and his hand shot up to his mouth. "I'll have to be more careful." He laughed again and stroked his hand down my arm, watching the progress of his fingers dreamily.

"Come," he said invitingly. "You'll be more comfortable on the bed."

My heart thumped at his words and his touch, but I let him lead me to the bed. It was a dramatic, canopied thing with dark wood and a rich, velvety comforter. On the one hand it seemed silly and theatrical, but it also seemed in step with the mood of this gloomy but darkly romantic castle.

He set me down on the bed and knelt down to take the sandals off my feet, taking the opportunity to slide his hands up to my knees when he stood back up. He smiled again and took a seat almost primly next to me.

"As I said, Isabella, I'm going to be as careful as I can but…" he sighed and looked at his folded hands. "This may prove to be very dangerous."

I nodded at him and then, when I realized he was waiting for more of a response, I murmured, "I understand."

"Good," he said, nodding once. He slid closer to me and placed one hand on my cheek. The other went behind my head and he began to slowly unzip the dress.

"Lovely Isabella," he breathed in that sing-song voice as he edged closer to me and murmured in my ear. "You do me such an honor."

My already murky head was filled with the smell of him, darker and spicier than Edward, but no less compelling. His lips slid down to my collarbone, and I felt his tongue on my pulse. My eyes slid shut as I felt his hands tug at the top of my dress and pull it to my waist. I sucked in my breath and then forced my eyes open shyly so I could take in his response to me.

He slipped off my bra with such a minimal effort that I wondered if it hadn't just dissolved in his hands. He stared at my upper body with a type of wonder, and I realized that he was following the path of his own hands. It occurred to me that he was amazed by the novelty of touching someone in this way without the accompanying thoughts. No distractions. He whispered something in a language that sounded like Italian, but I couldn't be sure.

Then he looked at me, seemingly for permission, before standing me up to slip my dress off. The rustling of the silk was followed by the smallest gasp on my part as my panties were gone as quickly as the rest of my clothes. Before I could cover up I was aloft and then lying on my back, propped up by pillows with him next to me leaning on his elbow. He was still completely dressed.

"Beautiful," he said, smiling at me reassuringly. His hands continued their journey over my body, his eyes following them. His absorption in what he was doing made him feel curiously distant despite his proximity to me. The feeling made me anxious again, and I couldn't regain my earlier sensation of desire. He quickly realized what was happening and smiled at me, his mouth twisting.

"I did say I would attempt to make it gratifying for you, didn't I?" I couldn't respond due to the strength at which my hunger rushed back. "Forgive me, Isabella. I got carried away by your loveliness."

He bent his head and took my nipple in his mouth. The cold didn't affect me this time, especially when he caressed the other one with his gentle fingers. Within moments my quiet gasps became whimpers, and he moved his hand between my legs. I winced at first, not in pain but in bashfulness. He shushed me gently then raised his head back up, regarding my face as he moved his fingers against me.

"Relax, Isabella," he murmured in that soothing, resonant voice of his. Soon I could barely keep my eyes open as I felt the tension in my belly increasing. He whispered encouragement to me as, finally, my head tilted back on the pillows and I came, my hips jerking up against his hand, my body flushing hot against his cool breath and touch.

"Now, Isabella," he said kindly, as if he was a doctor preparing to give me a shot. "This is going to hurt."

I heard some rustling of his clothes and, faster than I thought possible, he lifted me into his lap, and I could feel him pressing against me.

"Are you ready?" I wasn't-would never be-but I nodded dazedly, and he lowered me down onto him. The pain was sharp and immediate, and I gasped. He shushed me again, murmuring soothing sounds into my ear, but he continued to raise and lower me slowly, holding me with only his hands.

It ached, and his grip felt hard and tight on my waist, but his voice in my ear was hypnotic and compelling, and I focused my attention on it. I contemplated the idea that this wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The sensation became pleasant and then, delicious.

Just as my body began to move in conjunction with his thrusts, I realized that his voice had become tense and strained, As it did, his grip on my waist became painful, and the next thrust inside me hurt.

I cried out, and with dizzying speed I was on my back again with him on top of me.

"I'm afraid this is going to break you," he said to me sadly, and, although my mind was filled with horror at his words, my body didn't stop responding to him.

His next few thrusts felt exquisite, and my eyes slid closed again. Then, there was a sharp, crushing feeling in my midsection. Aro's body jerked against mine harder, oppressively now, and I began to whimper in pain. He continued to murmur soothing words, but there was an intensity to his voice that hadn't been there before.

Then, there was a sharp, agonizing crack, and the vision behind my closed eyelids went red.

"I'm so sorry, my Isabella," Aro spoke in my ear in a sad tone. The next thing I felt was something piercing my throat and the feeling of his lips on my neck. He was draining me, his mouth and body moving against mine in a way that could only be described as animalistic. He was killing me. A burning sensation spread through my body, in tandem with the pleasure I was still somehow feeling. It felt like being frozen and burning at the same time. I was dying.

"Goodbye, Bella Swan." My first and last lover whispered in my ear before I slipped into nothingness.

**a/n: Thank you so much for your kind (and, in some cases, horrified) reviews and support. I was convinced that no one was going to want to read something this crazy. I don't know what that says about you guys. ; ) xoxo JuJu**


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n: Genny910 makes everything prettier and more correct. **

**This update is all plot and no perversion. Sorry. **

**Also, I don't own it. I'm just playing "make them kiss" with my Bella Barbie and some weird Blue Meanie doll or something.**

"_**Power expands through the distribution of secrecy."**_

_** \- John le Carré**_

Oddly, the first thing I noticed was that my surroundings smelled different. As a human, the Volturi castle had seemed musty. Now I could break the smell into so many composite parts that it became intriguing. I could smell books and wood, the breeze coming in the window carrying dust and hay and apples, a sweet smell that reminded me a little of the Cullens' home, and something else, spicy and dark.

I opened my eyes. It was daytime, and the room I was in was well lit. Looking around, I was distracted by motes of dust in the air. The sound of the curtains flapping gently at the open window was practically deafening. Then I was able to adjust, refocus, and take in my surroundings.

I was in a different room; this one was just as old but decorated less theatrically than the one with the bed. The curtains and bedspread were white and gray, there were bookshelves and old furniture made of iron and wood.

Not only had I been moved, my clothes had been changed. I was wearing a navy dress. It fell all the way to my feet, which had been covered with a pair of flat leather sandals. It took a minute for this fact to sink in. I had been changed.

I jumped up quickly, taking in the empty room. My clothes had been changed. I had been changed. The last thing I remembered was…Aro killing me after we…

My hand went to my chest. Nothing. No heartbeat, no breath. I had been changed. I looked down at my arms. They were long and white and perfect. I had been changed. I had sex with Aro, and he changed me. I sat back down, stunned.

The door creaked open. I thought it was him, and I froze.

A small, dark-haired woman I had never seen before came in. She moved slowly, timidly. She closed the door and held both hands open as she approached me.

"Hello, Isabella." Her voice was quiet and sounded a little nervous. "My name is Renata. Aro sent me to help you adjust to your change."

I nodded at her, not trusting my voice. In truth, I felt disappointed not to see him. And angry. He had tried to kill me.

"The first thing to remember is that you need to stay within these walls with us. It's not safe for you to be out among humans as a newborn."

I almost winced to think of how many times I had thought about this process…before. Assuming that I would be going through it with the support of the Cullens instead of this stranger.

"Do you understand?" She was only a few feet from me now and I still hadn't spoken. I had no choice. This was my life now.

"I understand. Thank you, Renata."

The first thing Renata did was teach me how to feed. She took me down several levels until we stopped at a wooden door. I noticed very few residents of the castle as we walked, and those we did see seemed to be making an effort to avoid looking at us.

"Aro said that you would be uncomfortable with our diet but that this would be a good compromise." She put her hand on the door and spoke carefully to me, watching my face for comprehension.

"There is a man in here. He's a criminal, a very bad man. He was convicted of many counts of assault against children." Renata looked at me earnestly. "He is a man that you should not feel guilty about killing."

She opened the door and showed me the room. It was empty except where a human man was shackled to the floor. He rose when he saw us and began yelling at us in Italian.

I didn't have a choice. No matter how I felt about killing humans I was too hungry, and his blood smelled too good to resist.

Within seconds I was on top of him, my teeth tearing open his neck, desperately sucking at the warm blood that spurted from his arteries. By the time I finished, I was covered in his blood, and I had let a great deal spill on the floor. I froze and looked Renata in the eye. She smiled at me warmly.

"You did well. We should go get you cleaned up, though." I laughed and went with her. I prodded myself for feelings of guilt and, while they were there, so was the feeling of disconnection I had with all of this. There was something unreal about it all still.

The room I had been moved to boasted a beautiful bathtub and vanity instead of the toilet I had no use for. I cleaned up and put on another dress Renata had selected for me.

I looked at her skirt and blouse. "Does everyone here always dress up? I've never even seen anyone wear jeans."

Renata looked down at her clothes and smoothed out her skirt. "Things are different in here than they are outside, Isabella. We still live in the past in many ways." She stood up and approached me. She reached out her hand to touch my hair, pausing to get my permission first. She pushed my hair into a loose knot. I found myself enjoying the attention. Renata was very comforting to be around, very gentle. Not at all the way I had perceived the rest of the vampires here.

But then it occurred to me that I didn't really know anything about the rest of them. The time I had been here before had been frightening and stressful. Edward and I had broken the rules, and he had impressed on me how dangerous and alien the Volturi were. But then I had come to question many of the things Edward had taught me. I hoped that my assumptions about this place and these people were wrong.

"We dress formally because that is the way many of us were taught to show respect for authority. We are among royalty here, and it is an honor to serve. But the way we dress and speak to each other serves another purpose. When you present yourself at your best, you show respect for each other. We have lived together for many centuries, and the formality with which we interact helps us to maintain the peace."

It was what Aro had told me about his civility, his exquisite manners. It made sense, in a way.

Renata taught me more, gently and with that shy formality. She told me that English was rarely spoken and that Aro had instructed her to teach me Italian. I had always been a good student, but I had always had to work hard. Now it came easily to me. I remembered everything and didn't struggle with unfamiliar pronunciation.

She told me that when I felt more at home and settled that Aro would likely bring someone in to develop my power, such as it was.

"Aro assumes that you are a type of shield, like me."

I was surprised. "If you are a shield, why would Aro want me?"

Renata shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, Isabella. I wasn't clear. I am a physical shield only. I can protect from attacks by weapons or bodies. Aro can read my mind as well as anyone's. You are probably a mental shield."

I had trouble figuring out the use a shield like mine could present, with the exception of silence for tired mind-readers. It reminded me that my survival here, or the quality of my life here, was dependent on how useful I was, whether as a member of the guard or a plaything. I thought of how strange my life had become that these were the problems that confronted me instead of college plans or getting a job.

Renata only left me for an hour or two at a time. The second day she brought me a tiny velvet box.

"From Master Aro." She offered me the box, and I was embarrassed by how quickly I took it from her hands.

Inside was a pair of antique ruby earrings.

"He said they would match your beautiful eyes." Renata smiled. She seemed a little embarrassed to be delivering the message.

It was the third day before I asked her if Aro was planning to visit me himself.

"The masters rarely interact with newborns." She looked away as she said it.

"How often do you have newborns?" I raised an eyebrow at her. She shook her head and smiled.

"Master Aro has been eager to see my thoughts after I've visited with you, if you think he's…indifferent."

My questioning seemed to make her feel uncomfortable, so I dropped it. A week went by and I still had seen only Renata and my occasional human victims. New gifts arrived every few days. A book, in Italian, about the history of Volterra. A gold necklace, obviously very expensive and old, but not really my taste. A framed Japanese woodblock print of a forest near the ocean.

I wondered if this last gift was intended to make me sad or homesick. Perhaps it should have, but it didn't.

After a week had passed Renata brought me another book. It was in French, which I had taken in school, but I doubted I could read it.

"You'll have to tell Master Aro that his faith in my high school French teacher is misguided."

Renata's face was serious when she responded. "The book isn't from Master Aro. It's from Master Marcus." She seemed as perplexed as I was.

Marcus had barely responded when Edward had almost died at Felix's hands a year ago. He certainly had taken no interest in me either time I'd been in the same room. From what Edward had said, he had become almost comatose when his mate died.

"Master Marcus is to work with you on your French," Renata said carefully. "I will take you to his study two hours a day. We should go now."

"I don't understand," I said. "Why would he want to do that? I thought he didn't…get involved."

She nodded. "I have not known him to take an interest in anything in a very long time. But Master Aro insisted that we were expected today."

I checked my appearance quickly. I had grown accustomed to going barefoot and staying somewhat unkempt as long as it was just Renata and me in my room. I put on shoes and brushed my hair, tidying it into a bun.

Renata nodded her approval and we left my room. She took me to an amazing library one floor up from my room.

Marcus was seated at a long table. There were books and papers on the table, but he was gazing into space as we entered.

He was taller than Aro, maybe Edward's height, but thin, and he had an air of sadness mixed with boredom. He wore a long black robe with rich embroidery on the front.

"Isabella." Even his voice sounded old and bored. He didn't get up, just gestured to a seat across from him at the table. I sat down, placing the book he had given me between us. He glanced at it but gave no visible response.

He immediately began speaking to me in French, just conversational phrases, the stuff a tourist would need. It took me a few minutes to get comfortable, but eventually I was able to keep up.

After about an hour of banal conversation, he commented in English. "Your accent needs work, but you can converse on a primitive level. You need to work on your vocabulary." He pushed the book toward me. "How much do you know about French history?"

I answered cautiously, embarrassed about my lack of education. "A little. The Revolution, Napoleon, that kind of thing." He nodded, again without visible response.

"We shall do the best we can to compensate for your missing out on an American university education." His mouth seemed to twist into a hint of a smile when he said this. He gestured toward the book again.

"Diane de Poitiers was the mistress of Henri II. She was incredibly influential and for many years was considered to be the most powerful woman in France. She held more influence than Henri's wife, no mean feat, considering Catherine was a Medici." Again, he smiled wryly, holding eye contact with me for the first time. I stared back, not knowing how to respond to this.

"Read," he said, bringing an end to our stand-off.

It took several days for me to feel comfortable enough with Marcus to ask him why he was teaching me.

"You need to speak something other than English. Ghastly language."

"No, I mean, why are you teaching me? From what I've heard, you haven't taken any interest in anything since…" I couldn't finish the sentence.

"Since my wife died?" He finished the sentence for me.

I nodded.

He regarded me carefully. I had waited until our lesson was over and I was on my way out to ask him. He turned in his chair to face me.

"When I saw you a year ago, Bella Swan," he drew my name out carefully, "You had such strong bonds with the Cullens. Remarkable, really, given the circumstances. I remember commenting to my brothers about it." He seemed lost in the memory for a moment.

"And now?" I asked.

"Now you have almost no connections. You like Renata and appreciate her company. You are intrigued by my brother. But those powerful bonds that caused you to offer your life in your love's place? Gone. It's interesting." He drew out the last word.

"Do you—"

"Go now, Isabella. Renata awaits, and you'll make her nervous _interrogating_ me like this." Marcus gave me his almost-smile at this, so I nodded and left.

My lessons continued, Renata teaching me Italian and everything else I needed to know to live here, Marcus teaching me French and quite a bit of history.

"Why do I have to learn Italian and French?" I asked Renata one day.

"Always questioning, Isabella." She shook her head at me and made a clucking noise. "You're lucky you have such good friends."

"Do I?" I asked, exasperated. "I only ever see you and Marcus."

"We speak mostly Italian in the Guard. The masters speak French to each other, mostly." She left me to consider why I would need to speak French, but I had no doubt it had something to do with why Marcus was teaching me about mistresses of important men. Although, if Aro thought I had the skill or intelligence to be that influential, I couldn't imagine why. I hadn't even been in Forks long enough to graduate from high school. He wasn't even attached enough to me to visit me after my change. I chafed at the bit. I needed to know what was expected of me here, and Renata wouldn't give me any answers.

What she did give me after almost a month was an iPod.

"Really?" I asked her, turning it over in my hands. It was the first piece of post-1945 technology I had seen in a month.

"It is a gift from Master Caius," she said. This time she couldn't hide her amusement. "He would like you to help him with a _technological_ issue." The word came out of her mouth awkwardly.

"Let's go," I said, pulling on my shoes.

Caius was wearing the same type of robe Marcus wore. He was leaning over a computer. When he saw me he waved me over to where he was.

"Isabella," he pointed to the chair next to him. "I want you to show me how this works." He produced an iPad and set it down in front of me. "No one in this place can so much as turn on a television."

I pressed the "on" button and the iPad powered up. But when I tried to slide my finger across the touch screen, nothing happened. I tried again, then I realized what was happening.

"I don't think we can use a touch screen," I said to Caius. "You probably need to get a stylus."

"Where do I get one? Show me." I asked if I could use his computer, and I looked up what he needed on the Apple website.

"Order one of these, and I'll show you how to use it." He nodded and then gestured to the computer.

"You're pretty good with one of these?" His voice was terse, but he wasn't being threatening or disdainful.

"I know my way around a computer. I'm not a hacker or anything."

He nodded at me, thoughtfully. "I think that your knowledge will be helpful. My brothers think I'm paranoid, but I think if we don't understand the technologies in the modern world we run the risk of being exposed by them."

"I…agree with you. I could see vampires being detected in ways that haven't been a danger to you. Cameras, infra-red." I nodded at him.

"You can go, Isabella." Caius made a waving gesture at me. I followed his direction, but then as I got to the door he spoke to me again.

"You will make a good addition here, Isabella."

I didn't know how to respond, so I mumbled "Thank you," and went out the door to an anxiously waiting Renata.

Later that day, bolstered by my success with Caius, I tried Marcus again.

"Why does Aro stay away from me?" I asked him. I had just read and translated for him an especially difficult passage from Diane de Poitiers' history, and he looked momentarily pleased with me.

"My brother is proving something to himself," Marcus responded. I looked at him skeptically. Marcus gave me his twisted mouth look.

"Unlike your previous young swain, Aro doesn't have a self-destructive bone in his body. So he is trying to prove that he isn't drawn to the most dangerous thing in the world for him."

"Someone whose mind he can't read." I finished his thought.

He nodded at me.

"But he is," I clarified.

"Unquestionably," Marcus answered. "May we proceed with the lesson?"

I finished the lesson and went back to my room. I changed into a nicer dress and put on the ruby earrings, pulling my hair back to expose them.

I turned to Renata. "Where is Aro right now?" I asked her.

"He will be in his study preparing for dinner," she answered me. "But you can't…"

"Renata, I will make sure he knows that it was my idea," I assured her. "Don't make me lock you up in the closet." She smiled at me nervously.

"Are you sure—"

I waved a hand at her as I left the room. I knew exactly where his study was, because I had been paying attention. I ran there, Renata trailing me.

I pushed my way into his study without knocking. He stood talking to a male vampire, gesturing to something on the desk in front of him. Both of them looked up at me.

"Isabella." I experienced what felt like a shiver at the sound of his voice saying my name. No one could say it the way he did.

Aro leaned back on his heels slightly and took me in, shaking his head in admiration.

Then he gestured the male vampire away.

"Isabella," he breathed. "The reality of you is so much better than I imagined." He held his hands clasped together at his chest and then extended a hand toward me, as if tempted to touch me.

"Aro," I pulled myself up to my full height and addressed him sternly. "You've been terribly rude."

**a/n: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. My beta pointed out to me that there was no way I was looking at 4 chapters for this. Unless I really lose control I think it'll be a total of 6 chapters.**

**Thanks! **

**Xoxo **

**JuJu**


	4. Chapter 4

_**a/n: Apparently I just can't stop. Genny910 fixes my boo-boos and tells me when my stuff doesn't make sense. She completes me. **_

_**If you're having a hard time with this pairing, don't read this please. It's perverted.**_

"**All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means." **

** Zhou Enlai**

Aro's eyes glittered at me fiercely.

"Isabella," he crooned. "I'm appalled at the thought I've offended you. Tell me, whatever have I done?"

His manner was full of regret, but the intensity of his gaze belied that. I had guessed right; he was waiting for me to make the first move. If I was human I would be shaking with nerves.

"You were…intimate with me and then ignored me for a month." I surprised myself with my coy language. I was clearly picking up the speech patterns of these ancient, formal creatures.

"Did you not get my gifts?" Aro gave me an innocent look, moving a step closer. "You're wearing the earrings I sent."

"You tried to kill me." I lifted my chin at him.

"And yet, here you stand," he said, gesturing to me, "lovelier than ever."

"You told me 'good bye!'"

"I bid _Bella Swan_ good bye." Aro shook his head at me indulgently. "Bella Swan is dead, Isabella. You have risen from her ashes, like a magnificent phoenix."

He took another step closer to me. "I would never let any harm come to you. Didn't I give up my personal shield for you? I monitored your well-being through Renata and my dear brothers. You were perfectly safe and cared for. You had everything you could want." Aro's voice was soft, but his face was challenging.

He was waiting for something. Before responding, I needed to examine my own motives. Being here had changed me. Or changing had changed me. Aro was right; Bella Swan, that guileless, timid thing had died. I mourned for her innocence, her transparency, for a fraction of a second. Isabella, Aro's Isabella was careful and calculating.

I took a step toward him and looked up coquettishly through my lashes. I made my voice a breathy whisper. "What if I wanted _you_?"

"Isabella," he breathed, closing the gap between us and putting a hand to my face. He didn't feel cold anymore. He brought his mouth down until he was just a hairsbreadth from my lips. "I wouldn't dream of denying you." He pressed his lips to mine in a kiss hungrier than the ones we had shared before. It affected me but not to the drunken, dizzying extent that his kisses had before.

"Aro," I interrupted our kiss. He pulled away just enough that I could see his look of impatience. "Isn't it time for dinner?"

"Yes," he answered me cautiously. "But, you have been eating with Renata."

"I want to see you eat." I made my demand with the same flirtatious tone and a pout.

I didn't know why this was so important to me yet, but I did know I was tired of being stuck in that room. I wanted to see what really happened here.

Aro nodded. "You continue to surprise me. Come." He extended his arm to escort me downstairs to the one room I had yet to see since my change: the throne room.

Aro and I drew a few furtive looks as we walked together through the halls. He ignored the looks, and I tried to.

"I must mention, Isabella," he confided in me as we walked, "that I have been quite busy dealing with your friends, the Cullens."

I looked at him, curious, while I assessed my own emotional response. I found I felt little sadness at being estranged from them. I didn't want them _destroyed,_ but I didn't feel the same sharp pang of loss at the mention of their name.

"I contacted Carlisle," he continued. "I asked him to bring his family here to talk about their _infractions_. Carlisle told me that they have been under attack from a vengeful nomad, a woman whose mate they destroyed?"

"Victoria," I said.

"Yes. She has apparently created a bit of a situation in their area, creating far more newborns than she can feasibly control, all to launch an attack on them.

"I thought of leaving them to their fate but I didn't wish to upset you," Aro sighed theatrically. "Not to mention that this creature's actions are dangerous to us all if they become too conspicuous. I've been busy preparing a team to go help them."

I nodded. I was a little relieved to postpone the date I had to face them. I still didn't feel confident about where I stood here.

I was glad of the distraction of "dinner." It gave me the chance to think about what I knew would happen next between us. I was extremely torn in my reactions to Aro. Part of me was repulsed by his theatrical manner and elaborate games, his cruelty and his perversity.

But another, equal part of me was fascinated by him, by the complexity of his mind and motivations, by the ease with which he exercised immense power with such a light hand. The intense, delirious physical reaction he had aroused in me as a human had been replaced by a different but no less powerful attraction that seemed to have its origin in his profound desire for me. I understood now how one could be affected by another's yearning. It had never meant anything to me to be wanted by the human boys in Forks, and I had never really felt _desired_ by my tortured vampire boyfriend. But the fierce hunger in Aro's eyes? It set me aflame. It was the last thing I expected to feel, but I was grateful for it since it made our agreement more palatable.

We stepped into the throne room. Caius and Marcus were already in their seats, and they turned to see us enter. In fact, the eyes of most of the room were on the two of us. They weren't warm, but they were admiring, respectful. Instead of feeling shy, as would have been my tendency before, I took some pleasure in it.

"Isabella," Marcus rose briefly from his seat to greet me. Caius nodded in my direction, which felt something like a major gesture on his part.

"Heidi will bring dinner in soon," Aro said to me, guiding me up the steps to the three black thrones. "You can sit here."

I was surprised to see he led me to his throne. I glanced at Caius and Marcus, but they just looked placidly at the double doors on the other side of the room. I sat down on the edge of the seat and thanked Aro.

The doors opened and Heidi brought in a group of tourists. She was talking to them about the frescoes and the mosaic-work on the floor as she led them in. They seemed to remain distracted by her talk until the doors closed behind them with a hollow, thumping sound.

Suddenly, the crowd seemed to freeze as they took in the otherworldly creatures that inhabited the room. It was as if all of their instincts told them to run, but their rational brains told them that such things as they feared just didn't exist. The result of the conflict was like time being frozen. I pushed myself to pick someone out of the crowd that I felt sorry for, the most vulnerable of these humans.

I found a young woman in the second row; pale, red-haired, and big-eyed. I waited to feel horrified, to cry out and beg them to spare her.

The silence broke as Aro reached the human closest to him. He glanced back to me for a split second, and our eyes locked. Then he smiled at the middle-aged man for a second, let out a lip-curling snarl, and pulled the man's neck to his mouth.

Pandemonium broke out in the hall as the rest of the immortals moved in to capture their prey and the humans realized what was happening. The smell of blood filled the air, and I found myself gripping the arms of Aro's throne. I had fed a few hours previously, and I was able to resist, but it wasn't easy.

I looked for the redhead I had picked out of the crowd. I saw her in Jane's arms. As Jane's teeth dug into her neck, the girl's blue eyes caught mine. I made myself maintain her gaze. It felt bad but somehow…bearable…just on the edge of discomfort. But if I had to, _since_ I had to, I could handle it.

I sought Aro out again. He was watching me, his hands clasped together in front of him, his gaze steady. He seemed oddly still in the midst of all the activity. His expression was openly desirous.

I had thrown down a gauntlet in front of him, and he had picked it up. I knew I could either stall or go to bed with him now. I watched my responses as if from the outside. I wanted to go with him. I was intoxicated by the power I had over him.

I beckoned him forward with a finger. His eyes flared at me, and he pushed smoothly through the crowd. He mounted the stairs and leaned down over me where I sat.

"Come," Aro growled in my ear as he pulled me from the room. He took a position slightly behind me, placed his hand on my lower back, and pushed me forward through the halls.

He didn't speak, and my tension mounted as we neared the room I knew to be his. As we stepped inside, his insistent but polite escort ended. He closed the door and almost simultaneously slammed me against it with his body.

He grabbed my jaw with one hand and plunged his tongue into my mouth, while his other hand wrapped around my back with such force that his hand tore the back of my dress.

"You're playing a very dangerous game, Isabella." He pulled his lips away from my mouth and growled into my ear.

I brought my thigh up to press against the bulge in his trousers. "You seem to be enjoying our game."

He laughed his odd, slightly effeminate laugh. Suddenly I was spinning through the air, coming down on the fluffy white comforter on his big bed. He held himself poised above me for a moment like a predator, and then he pounced on me, pressing his body into mine again.

His mouth moved down to the neckline of my dress. He hovered there for a moment, looking up at me.

"I hope you aren't terribly attached to this dress," He smiled crookedly at me as he pushed himself back up on his knees and put his hands on opposite sides of my neckline.

I shook my head at him, and he grinned as he tore the front open, pulling it away from my body as the shredded back fell apart.

I reached for his suit jacket, but he pulled it off before I could. He tossed it to the side, then brushed my hands away when I started to loosen his tie. He leaned back on top of me again, tearing my bra away with his teeth as he kicked his dress shoes off with so much force that one hit an end table across the room.

My laugh turned to a groan in my throat as his teeth met my breast with just enough bite to send a throb through my body. He continued to tease my breasts as the hand that wasn't propping him up pulled the last of my dress away from my body and ran back up from my knee to my waist.

I reached for him again, this time going for his belt buckle. Aro pushed himself away from me again and gazed at my body, watching his hand slowly stroke from my jaw, skimming over my breast and down where my panties covered my hip. Then he looked at me with a smirk and dug his fingers into the lacy edge and pulled. I gasped as he exposed all of me. Then I pulled his mouth down to mine, kissing him as aggressively as he had kissed me earlier.

He pressed himself against me again, and this time he let me unbuckle his pants. I swallowed the tiniest bit of lingering anxiety about touching a man there for the first time, then I wrapped my hand around him. I marveled at how hard it was and at the same time how smooth the skin felt. It was his turn to groan, and he seemed to freeze for a moment, burying his face in the pillow next to my ear and saying something I couldn't understand. He was trembling slightly. I could feel it in my other hand, which rested on his shoulder.

I stroked him, pulling another submerged groan from him before he pulled his head back up and gazed at me, his face lacking his usual poise for just a second before recovering.

"Be careful, sweet," he murmured. For a second I thought I was hurting him, and I released him. But then he mumbled, perhaps to himself, "Amazing. No distractions." The way he winced slightly when he said that last word I, realized that he meant being touched intimately without having to absorb someone's thoughts.

For the first time, I understood what a burden it was, going through so many centuries, and never being able to touch someone without hearing everything they had ever experienced. Especially now, as I was coming alive sexually for the first time, I felt sad for him, never being able to feel this pleasure without the static of others' thoughts.

My reverie didn't last long, though. Aro's thoughts shifted so swiftly that he quickly overcame his musing. He took advantage of my inaction to stroke his hand down my abdomen again. and then between my legs, I gasped again and rose up to meet his hands as he established a rhythm that was actually more tentative than his calculated touches when I was human. He was teasing me.

I twisted under his touch, trying to get more, while pulling somewhat clumsily at his shirt. He let me pull his tie off while smiling indulgently at my writhing.

"Please," I begged him. I regretted that I hadn't been able to maintain control over our tryst, but it was a small issue in the face of the oddly powerful lust I felt for this bizarre, disturbing man.

"Whatever you want, Isabella." Together, he and I pulled the rest of his clothes away from him, he more adeptly than I, and he pressed himself against me again. It felt as though he was trying to have our bare skin touch as much as possible. It was curiously intimate, especially since we were closer in stature than Edward and I had been. We matched up much more evenly, and he seemed to want to stay that way for a long moment before finally, both of us trembling, he entered me, letting out another whispered phrase I couldn't understand.

I whimpered with pleasure and he looked at me, his eyes clearing slightly. I gave him a minute nod, and he began to thrust hard but almost methodically. He continued his careful thrusts, looking at me, his eyes burning but not seeming to really see me. The pleasure built up, and I let out a louder cry. He seemed to snap, suddenly beginning to thrust into me more roughly, deliciously. He kissed me hungrily, and I could feel his teeth on my mouth again. I fought back, digging my nails into his back and meeting his desire with mine.

The act had unimagined savagery, and I wondered with the piece of my mind that wasn't lost whether it would always be like this, whether I had lost the chance to make love like a human instead of an animal. Regardless, it was glorious and consuming. When I felt that rising pleasure that I only remembered dimly from the last minutes of my human life, I realized that it didn't matter if I never felt that again, because this was so much better.

I came, almost screaming into his shoulder. Aro shuddered violently and thrust into me fiercely a half a dozen times before letting out a stream of words in a tongue I didn't recognize. He had lost every sign of composure, and he dropped down beside my sated body. He slipped out of me and just stared, his mouth slightly open and a dazed look covering his perfect, patrician face.

I lost a moment recovering. Then, I reached for him again, startling him from his trance but quickly pulling us both back under.

_**a/n: AHHHH! I cannot believe you just read that! Anyhow, thanks for reading and all your lovely reviews (I think we've weeded out the innocent and easily horrified at this point). Also, big creepy thank yous to Katiebird at Bookish Temptations for being brave enough to rec this. **_

_**Xoxo JuJu**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**a/n: Genny910 makes everything prettier. I just make it weird.**_

"**This is a war universe. War all the time. That is its nature. There may be other universes based on all sorts of other principles, but ours seems to be based on war and games.**"

**William S. Burroughs**

I lay nearly naked beside Aro, on my stomach, the crisp sheets of the bed pushed down below the small of my back. His elegant, white hand lazily stroked a line from my shoulder to my waist.

He seemed enamored of my skin. Even when he wasn't touching it, he stared at it. It occurred to me that I could probably completely disarm him if I wore a backless dress or even just something sleeveless.

"I should feed soon." I let out a sigh and propped myself up on my elbows as I spoke.

"Of course," he murmured, snapping out of his daydream and sliding out of the bed.

He grabbed his shirt and dressed rather quickly, compared to his normal languid pace. It reminded me of someone fearful of exposing himself. I thought about his hands brushing mine away when I had tried to undress him and the way he lay partially covered now. I came to an unexpected conclusion: he was strangely self-conscious of his body. He _was_ of slighter build than many men I had known and was a mere four or five inches taller than me. It made sense if you considered his age. I remembered being on a junior high class trip to Washington D.C. and visiting a colonial home in Virginia. The small staircases and doorways had surprised me until the guide had pointed out that people had been smaller as recently as a few hundred years ago. It didn't bother me but it seemed to bother him.

I smiled at him coyly and looked down at my sheet-clad body. "I don't think I have anything to wear," I told him.

He laughed. "I'll get right on it." He finished dressing and walked to the door and opened it. Renata met him within seconds. I realized with some chagrin that she must have been waiting out there this whole time. He exchanged a few words with her and closed the door.

"Renata will fetch you some clothing. You'll go eat and then keep your lesson with Marcus. I'll come for you there." He sat down on the edge of the bed to tie his shoes. I felt a tiny degree of _fondness_ for him in that moment. Not love, not adoration, not anything I was familiar with. I considered him carefully until I realized that he was waiting for a response.

"Is that amenable to you, Isabella?" He looked at me politely.

I smiled at him sweetly. "I thought those were orders." I injected as much innocence as I could into my voice.

He laughed, that crazy, high-pitched laugh that I found both repulsive and fascinating. It was off-putting to be so close to his insane giddiness. At the same time, only someone with Aro's power could laugh like that and still be taken with deadly seriousness.

Aro saw my response and he smiled.

"I can't wait," he said, leaning over and touching me under the chin. He swept out of the room.

Renata's anxiety level had definitely abated and she was almost chummy with me when she brought me some clothes. She had brought me a necklace that Aro had given me two weeks into my new life. I made a face.

"It's not your favorite," she said, laughing.

"I think it's hideous." It was an ancient, clunky gold necklace in the shape of some kind of bird. It looked Egyptian, and I hated it.

I put it on and grimaced at Renata. If the worst part of my new life was wearing an ugly piece of jewelry, I was lucky.

"You missed our lesson yesterday," Marcus intoned. He didn't lift his eyes from his book when I arrived.

"I'm sorry, Marcus." He looked up at me with an infinitesimal smile so I knew he wasn't angry. He took in the monstrosity around my neck.

"He gave you the necklace of Hatshepsut," Marcus said, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you think?" I touched it and smiled at him. He shook his head.

"I've never liked it, but Aro worked very hard to get it so I know he thinks it's precious." Marcus pushed the book in front of him over to me.

"Did he know her?" I asked, hoping to pry into Aro's past…dalliances.

Marcus laughed. "No, she is even older than us. Aro went through quite a bit of trouble to steal her necklace. He angered quite a few of our Egyptian friends in the process. It wasn't entirely safe for us to go to North Africa for quite some time after that." Marcus seemed lost in the memory for a moment.

"It looks like a vulture," I said, looking down at it.

"It _is_ a vulture." He pointed to the book in front of me. "We left off here at the death of Madame du Pompadour."

I started to read to him in French, pausing every paragraph to translate. Marcus didn't need to correct my pronunciation any more but he would sometimes clarify a word meaning, making distinctions between words that sometimes seemed minute and fiddly. The third time he did it, I rolled my eyes and he sighed at me.

"Isabella, I know you think I'm being pedantic, but the shades of meaning in words is important, especially here. In English, the words 'influential' and 'dominant' both express different types of power, but you can see the difference, can you not?"

I nodded, knowing that there was more of a lesson than just the connotation of French adjectives here. Marcus and I were still reading about the lives of powerful mistresses, for one thing.

"Subtlety is an important lesson to learn here," Marcus continued, the book forgotten. "Power is everything. If you are to use your gifts effectively, no one must know that you are wielding them. Your greatest weapon is secrecy."

"Forgive me, Marcus," I smiled at him as I spoke, "but you assume I have an agenda here besides just staying safe."

"My dear Isabella." Marcus clasped his hands in front of him. "I am three thousand years old and I was an intelligent man as a human. Your Cullens may have believed you to be an ambitionless child but I know better. You are new to this life and still finding your feet. When you do, you'll have the tools."

"I don't understand why you're helping me," I said in an almost whisper to Marcus. "Why would you encourage me to wield this kind of influence over your brother?"

"Would you believe that it is because it amuses me?" Marcus lifted an elegant eyebrow at me, his expression looking in that moment so much like Aro's it surprised me. Their centuries together had clearly made them alike in many ways. Marcus must have picked up more of Aro's penchant for manipulation than I had assumed at first. Now he was exercising his power through me.

"I'm not sure what to believe," I said. Marcus smiled at me like we shared a secret.

"Your lessons must be going well for my brother to be so pleased." Aro's voice came from the doorway. I felt a tingle of excitement at the sound of his smooth, feather-soft voice.

"My pupil is impressive," Marcus said, all the boredom returning to his voice.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to steal her from your tutelage." Aro swept in and offered me a hand. I thanked Marcus and took Aro's arm.

"Will Isabella be joining you for our audience?" Marcus seemed completely disinterested in the answer to his own question.

Aro patted my hand and smiled at Marcus. "I think that would be appropriate, don't you think?" Marcus nodded without looking up.

"It would be good for you to start learning about what we do here, Isabella."

Aro walked me back to my room. Once there he went straight to my closet and flipped through my clothes. All dresses. It made me think of Alice. She would probably approve.

He pulled out a dress very similar to the one I was wearing.

"This one will do nicely, I think." He handed it to me, appraising me openly with his eyes.

"What is the occasion?" I asked, careful to keep my voice polite.

"Your first formal presentation to the court," he answered. "Please wear the necklace." He gestured to my neck.

To punish him I changed in the bathroom.

"Lovely," he said when I came out. "If you would put your hair up, please?" When I looked at him curiously he answered. "I think it would showcase Hatshepsut's necklace nicely." I nodded, lacking a reason to argue.

I sat down at the dressing table, trying to pin my hair up. Aro sat in an armchair, watching me.

We sat like that for some time, no words, and no games. It was refreshing. I got the impression that it was an infrequent occasion for Aro to be so still and quiet.

Then his voice broke the spell. "I want you to tell me what happened with you and the Cullens."

I turned to face him. I didn't want to revisit that time, but his expression made it clear I didn't have a choice. When his waiting expression didn't soften, I turned back to the mirror, watching him that way.

"You saw the way things were when we…when I met you the first time," I said, appealing to Aro to fill in the details himself. How Aro had said that he would let us go if Edward agreed to change me, if he _meant_ it. How I had begged him to _mean it_.

"Edward never agreed to change me. Alice did. The second we stepped out of here he was scheming how to get around it, how to keep me human." I blew out a breath and frowned. Another lover might have comforted me. Aro just watched, his curious eyes glittering.

"He couldn't be convinced. Edward hated himself so much. I couldn't stand that he hated what he was more than he loved me."

I turned to face Aro again. "I cut off ties with them. I told them all to stay away from me. They thought what he did was right. Carlisle, who was supposed to be so wise; Alice, who called me 'sister.' They left me and then thought I would just pick right back up where they left off. As if I wouldn't always have to worry if he would decide to leave again." I couldn't read Aro's response. I turned my face away from him again.

"Well, I have to admit to being rather charmed by your love affair with young Edward. So romantic and tragic." Aro sighed theatrically. He approached me then and put his hands on my shoulders. "Although, your heartbreak has worked out to my benefit delightfully." He bent down and put his lips on my neck. I continued to stare at our reflections in the mirror.

"Tell me about your mate." I said, keeping my gaze neutral. Aro removed his lips from my shoulder.

"What is it that you would like to know, my Isabella?" He smiled at me indulgently. "Are you interested in her personality, or are you just wondering why she tolerates me taking a mistress so openly?" His voice seemed to take on an edge, but it was so subtle I couldn't have proved it.

"I think, the latter," I said. His eyes sparkled at my honesty.

"Sulpicia is content with her life in the tower. She has her amusements, and she has little desire to be intimate with me, certainly." He said it without rancor.

"But presenting me to the court _formally_ gives me a certain position." I was very careful to not assume too much. "Doesn't that take away from her position?"

"My mate has never had the desire to wield power. She enjoys the comforts but does not relish the complexities. She will no doubt be pleased to have someone to take her place at those rare events which require me to use her as a hostess." Aro seemed to be getting bored, and I felt conscious of a desire to keep him engaged.

I got up and sat back down on the dressing table, facing him, my feet on the stool. I pulled at the long hem of my dress, exposing my legs up to above my knees, feigning obliviousness to the way Aro's eyes watched me avidly.

"Have you had many mistresses since Suplicia stopped being _interested_?" I watched him move towards me slowly, his eyes on my skin. I parted my legs slightly, still covered from just above my knees up.

"A few," he shrugged, his eyes not meeting mine, distracted as they were by my actions. "No one I put in _your_ position, certainly." He had reached where I sat. He put his hands underneath my knees and stroked the sensitive skin there delicately.

"And, in my defense, the _lack of interest_ was mutual. After three-thousand years even the mate-bond can lose its spark if you hear everything they think." He ran his hands slowly up the backs of my legs.

"Why me, then?" I asked, leaning back to leave space between our heads as he moved closer, placing his body in between my legs. "I mean, the silence thing I get. But why give me so much status? You could have just tucked me away in a bedroom and had your way with me."

"That certainly sounds appealing," he said, pushing my hem up higher, his fingers almost at my panties. But then he stopped and stood up a little straighter.

"You underestimate yourself as always, Isabella. Your silence is appealing, I won't deny it, but your brave heart was the most intriguing."

Aro removed a hand from my thigh and tapped my chest where my quiet heart lived. "A fragile human girl who would dare to face us and tell me that I knew nothing of Edward Cullen's soul? The fierceness of your spirit, your bravery was the most appealing thing about you. I couldn't wait to see what you would do as an immortal and was only saddened that you had attached yourself to one as weak-spirited as Edward Cullen." He moved closer to me again, stopping with his mouth just inches from mine. "When I found that you had grown away from that self-loathing bore, I was thrilled that I could perhaps witness your true potential."

He leaned in the rest of the way and kissed me. I was somehow both inflamed and contented by his words. I took comfort in the safety of my position here, at least as long as I could continue to intrigue Aro.

He pulled away. "Now, I think I was in the middle of something, my dear." He slid his hands back up my legs. I leaned back, propping myself up on my elbows as he pulled off my underthings.

"You'll have to help me with this," he said, his mouth hovering between my thighs. "I don't have the benefit of your thoughts to help me."

I was struck for the first time by the _vulnerability_ in his face. I had come to see that despite his millennia on earth he was relatively inexperienced. I was a very recent virgin, but I had seemed to take him by surprise once or twice in our recent tryst. I was surprised myself by how I'd taken to sex so enthusiastically. I wondered if it wasn't a combination of my time of fruitlessly lusting after my vampire boyfriend and my transformation. I was coming to see that I was a very different person as a vampire than I'd been as a human.

Aro's tongue coaxed a cry out of me, and my thoughts came back to where I was. There was something about our sexual relationship that made me feel as if he was oddly subservient to me. I could manipulate him with his desire, and more often than not he was servicing me. It was an unexpected thrill, this feeling of power.

His hands gripped my hips as he stroked his tongue across me. I shuddered with pleasure, as much from the action as from the power of his adoration. It was a heady experience to go from feeling rejected by my frigid teenage boyfriend to holding sexual dominion over such a frightening, powerful creature as Aro.

One of his hands joined his mouth on me as he worked to coax pleasure out of me. He pushed his fingers into me as I collapsed back onto the table, unable to support myself on my shaking arms. He brought me closer and closer as I writhed on the table.

As I came, my hips jerked up to meet him, and he seemed to murmur something, his mouth against my skin. When I regained my breath I pushed myself back up and looked at the blissful, hazy look on his face. It was as if he had been the one to experience the pleasure.

I smiled and gestured to my crumpled dress. "I think you'll have to get me a new dress." This time I changed in front of him, making eye contact with him the whole time, enjoying his reaction as I exposed myself. It wasn't the type of attraction I was accustomed to but it was enthralling nonetheless.

_**a/n: Thanks for reading and all your sweet reviews and tweets and such! There's one more chapter of this abomination, so, watch out!**_

_**xoxo**_

_**JuJu**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**a/n: Genny910 makes this structurally acceptable for human consumption. I make it inappropriate for everyone.**_

"**Love, I take it, must look toward something not quite accessible, something not quite understood.****" -James Branch Cabell**

I suspected it was the only peace he ever got, when we were lying together in bed. He outlined my collarbone with his finger while I read from a book I had borrowed from his study. He had been quiet for the longest time I had ever experienced.

I imagined I had worn him out as much as you could with an immortal creature. I had ridden him for nearly two hours, slowing down every time he got near his climax, until he had trembled and begged me for release. Afterwards he shuddered and clutched me to his chest, whispering in my hair in an unrecognizable language.

Finally, I closed my book and stretched languidly. "We should get dressed for today's audience." Aro's appearances were sometimes brief, but they happened daily. He said it assured the guard and members of the court that he was ever-present and omniscient. I could see where it could get boring, but so far I had been fascinated to see what went on in them. Vampires sometimes came to have the three kings settle disputes or to seek information or advice. Immortal creatures with any political sense came to pay homage to their rulers. Some of them came against their will; those rarely left.

"In a moment," Aro spoke, lifting his finger from my throat and looking at me with a more serious look. "We should discuss something, Isabella." He had clearly been thinking when I assumed he was just drifting.

"As soon as the threat in Washington is dealt with, the Cullens will come here. Of course, they'll be concerned for you and will want to take you back with them. You'll have a decision to make."

For a moment, I thought he was talking about letting me go with them, and I know the surprise showed on my face. It wasn't a good feeling.

"Oh!" Aro laughed and shook his head at my response. "Don't misunderstand me, you're not _going_ anywhere." He got up and grabbed his shirt from the floor. He put it on and began buttoning it while he continued talking.

"It's just that you have to consider carefully how you would like to _present_ yourself when the Cullens come to call." He pulled on his pants. He had a surprising amount of dignity for someone putting on the clothes they'd discarded during a tryst.

"You can choose what you want them to think about your _position_ here." Aro gave me a smirk when he said that. I smoldered at him, and he paused momentarily, off balance. Then he sat back down on the bed and, leaning over, took my chin in his hand.

"You can choose to meet them on your knees, like my pet, my plaything," he murmured in his quiet, smooth voice. "Or you can meet them on your feet, by my side, as my _treasure_." He leaned in closer. "You know which one _I _would prefer." He got back up and fixed his cuffs. "Not that I wouldn't enjoy having you on your knees _in private_."

I nodded, slightly shaken by his seduction. It was disarming to realize that I didn't hold all the power in our intimate relationship.

When the Cullens did arrive, we were sitting in his study. He was telling me a story about having helped a Russian nobleman with a "demon" problem that turned out to be an abandoned set of newborns and how he'd received a beautiful icon in return. In the past, the brothers had sometimes represented themselves as "vampire hunters" in order to hide their identity. It allowed them to deal with renegade vampires without revealing their own nature.

Aro believed that what he and his brothers did was absolutely necessary to preserve the balance between humans and our kind. He believed in justice and clearly strove to be fair. I could see how the Cullens, with their emphasis on compassion and their desire to live like humans, could see the Volturi as evil, but I could also see where that wasn't necessarily the _only_ truth. The existence of our kind _had _to remain a secret. The ramifications of humans knowing could be disastrous for all. I imagined young people flocking to vampires, begging to be changed. I could see governments using vampires as weapons, scientists using them as lab rats. If there were too many vampires, both humans and animals could become an endangered food source. I understood now very clearly why my new "family" had to do what they did.

Felix told us that the Cullens were downstairs waiting to be ushered into the throne room. Aro dismissed him and looked at me.

"Are you ready, my dear?" His voice was soft and polite, but there was no compassion in his gaze. I couldn't read what I saw there.

"You said before that you would show them that you owned me…" my voice trailed off. I was suddenly very nervous about what he intended to do in front of the Cullens.

"Yes. I intend to." He smiled at me patiently.

"You're not going to do anything…in front of them." I gestured to myself.

Aro laughed suddenly. "Oh, I see what has you so frightened." He smiled as one would to a very young child, which I supposed I was to him in that moment. I felt as if I had lost all the momentum I had built, all the power I had over him. It felt like that first day in that room, him seducing me in the ugliest way possible and me trembling with fear, trapped by my lack of choices and my uncontrollable human response to his monstrous charm.

"Isabella, I have more dignity than that." His tone was patronizing. "I will simply show young Edward one of the many glorious memories you've given me. I think that should be sufficient, don't you?"

I tried not to show my relief and how stupid and small I felt. "I think so." I stepped closer to him. "But, I want to give you another memory to chose from."

I dropped to my knees abruptly in front of him and reached for the zipper of his exquisite, expensive pants. I felt something like trembling from him as he realized what I had planned, and I suddenly felt stronger.

He gasped my name as I took him in my mouth, sliding my tongue along his member luxuriantly. I could feel his hand hovering above my hair as I teased him, moving more slowly than he wanted. I could tell he was tempted to press on my head to make me move faster, but he didn't dare. Just watching him fight that impulse brought back my confidence and feeling of power over him. I sped up my attentions and was met with a pleasured groan.

I had done this for him before but never in so subservient position. It was a curious irony that being on my knees before him gave me so much power over this most terrifying, complex creature. I literally controlled him with my mouth and hands in this moment. It was intensely arousing for me, and part of me wished that we didn't have to go downstairs so soon.

He came with a whimper and a groan, chanting my name. I released him, and he reached back to the chair he had been sitting in to steady himself. His eyes burned at me.

I stood and zipped him back up, maintaining eye contact, then I offered him my hand.

"Shall we?" I asked. He nodded, a mixture of lust, adoration, and fear on his perfect, arrogant face.

I felt nervous about seeing the Cullens. My human memories were supposed to be hazy but I could remember vividly the conversation he and I had when we returned from Italy in March. I remembered him saying that I would be thirty before the Volturi even thought of me again.

"No," he had said, when I asked him if he thought the Volturi would forget about me. "They won't forget. But…"

"But?" I had asked.

"I have a few plans." He grinned at me while I stared, furious with him.

"And these plans." I could have stared holes in him. "These plans all center around me staying human."

When my arrogant immortal boyfriend glared at me and said, "Naturally," I snapped.

"Get out," I said. He looked at me in shock so I repeated myself. "Get out of my house now before I scream and wake up my dad."

"Bella, you wouldn't-"

"I would," I cut him off. "I'll tell him you broke in here. Get out of here now."

"Bella, love, I-" Edward wanted to keep arguing with me but he must have seen what was on my face. I was utterly serious. I was appalled that after all we went through, after leaving me for months, almost dying in Volterra, the threat from Victoria, that he would still be insisting upon leaving me human, that he couldn't bend or change or acquiesce.

I refused to speak to him again. He tried for weeks. Rosalie and Emmett tried, telling me I was foolish, telling me that they understood my anger. Esme came by to talk to me one day. I apologized for upsetting her and insisted that she leave.

It hurt. A lot. A hundred times I wanted to call him, run to him, beg him to come back. But I had seen that even our experiences in Volterra hadn't changed his fundamental hatred of what he was or his willingness to be with me forever. I knew that nothing would change. And eventually it hurt less. It had just stopped aching and had settled down to a sad twinge every so often when I was surprised by three members of the guard showing up in my bedroom one night. I hadn't even fought them or even asked them why they came. My only thought was that Edward was wrong, again. They hadn't forgotten about me. It had been less than six months.

I had still seen the Cullens almost daily at school and around Forks in the time between that night I told Edward to stay away from me and when the members of the guard had taken me from my home. I remembered seeing them lingering in the corners, clearly watching me to see if I would change my mind. I had gotten used to the looks and the presence of them in the periphery. Edward hadn't even dazzled me anymore, now that I knew the misery of his very conditional love.

Still, it made me somewhat anxious. Edward hadn't wanted me changed and yet here I was, red-eyed and immortal. I had no idea how the rest of his family felt but they had acquiesced to his demand to leave me alone after my birthday party so I had to assume that, although they may have disagreed with him, they would still agree to his desires for my future. What would Carlisle think of my red eyes? Would Alice see my future and see that I had made a mistake choosing this life?

Perhaps thankfully, I didn't have a lot of time to question what would happen. Aro bid me to wait outside.

"I will call for you when I'm ready," he said, already formal and distant. I gave him a questioning look.

"This is theatre, Isabella. You have to choose your actions carefully, as do I. They'll have to _ask_ for the privilege of seeing you."

I nodded and released his hand. I composed myself carefully, stroking the fabric of my dress and tidying my hair.

"You should let me do that," I heard Renata's voice. I had been so distracted by my anxiety I hadn't heard her approaching.

"Why doesn't Aro have you guarding him?" I was thankful for her presence, but I didn't understand. Surely he had some concern for his own well-being. He had invited a large, albeit generally peaceful, coven into his presence, one that had a reason to be angry.

"I'm close enough," Renata reassured me.

I took Renata's hand and smiled tightly at her. "I'm glad you're here."

We stood that way in the antechamber for a few minutes before the door opened again and Demetri stuck his head out and beckoned to us.

I didn't want to let go of Renata, but she pulled her hand away and spoke gently to me. "You will not present a position of strength unless you go in alone. Don't let them think that you need my comfort to tolerate being here."

She was right, and I nodded at her in thanks. I took a deep, grounding breath and walked into the room.

The Cullens stood there already, forming a tight cluster in front of the thrones. I felt a jolt of shame and self-consciousness. But, then I reminded myself of the way they had left me on the lightest of pretexts—to "protect me"—leaving me to the mercy of the wolves and Victoria's return. But the hardest truth, the one that helped me to face them, was the one that had helped me to sever myself from them months before. When Edward and Alice and I had returned from Italy, they stood by and let him leave me in the forest that night, heartbroken and alone.

I looked at Aro for direction. He bore that unctuous, polite smile, which I knew hid his contempt for what the Cullens had done.

"Isabella, your friends have expressed a desire to see you." He gestured to where the golden-eyed family watched me with varying expressions. Rosalie sneered, Esme and Carlisle looked at me solicitously, Alice and Jasper seemed to be examining me with more curiosity than horror, Emmett smiled in greeting, and Edward…Edward's face bore the horror that Alice and Jasper's had not. He looked as if he was watching an enormous multiple-car crash with many casualties.

"They have also voiced their _concern_ for your well-being." Aro's pronunciation of the word let slip his disdain. "They're quite upset by the notion that you're being held here against your will." He smiled at me.

I faced my old family and lifted my jaw. Approaching them slowly, I looked Carlisle in the eye.

"Carlisle," I addressed him, feeling the stare of my former boyfriend. "Thank you so much for coming. I hope that you and your family are well after facing Victoria?"

Carlisle hesitated just a beat before addressing me with equal formality. "Thank you for your concern, Bella. We are all well."

He looked around to the faces of his family before continuing. "We are concerned about your well-being, however. You were brought here quite suddenly and, I assume, against your will?" Carlisle's gaze shot to Aro. I looked at Aro myself.

"Isabella was indeed brought here against her will," Aro said smoothly. "However, we were able to come to an agreement, were we not, my dear?" He nodded to me to continue.

"I was given a choice," I said. "You may remember that I always wanted to be one of you. It was Edward who disagreed." With this I glanced at Edward. His face twisted in anger.

"You _said_ you wanted to be with _me_ forever," Edward spat, taking a step forward.

Suddenly, things happened very quickly as Aro said Jane's name, and Edward collapsed on the floor in pain, clutching his head. Emmett and Rosalie looked as if they wanted to protest, but Carlisle held a hand up to them. Jasper and Alice continued to watch quietly. Esme went to Edward to comfort him.

I looked at Aro, and he waved a hand to Jane to stop.

"Do keep a civil tongue in your head, Edward." Aro spoke softly. Edward got up slowly.

"Once I _knew_, it was inevitable, wasn't it?" I said to Edward, mimicking Aro's soft tone.

He just stared at me while Carlisle spoke again.

"Is this what you want, Bella? You'd rather be a member of the guard than live your new life as you choose?" Carlisle looked confused. I knew that he had found the life here untenable. But he wasn't me.

"Isabella," Aro's voice behind me thrummed. Even now I found it so interesting and layered. There were always a million shades of meaning in the way he spoke.

I turned to him, and he beckoned me with a hand from his throne. He was giving me the chance to show them who I was. I stepped up the dais and approached Aro's throne. As I reached him his face went still, waiting to see what I would do. I took a seat on the arm of his throne, facing the Cullens, my arm on his shoulder. It was an odd combination of sitting in close proximity to power and perching on the seat like a pet. I gave Edward a grin. He gasped, but his eyes jumped from me to Aro. I looked at Aro. He, too, was smiling viciously at Edward. It was obvious that Aro was showing Edward something with his thoughts.

"You can't be…" Edward lurched forward again. Emmett and Jasper stepped in to restrain him.

"Master?" Jane looked to Aro to see if she should punish Edward. Aro shook his head.

"You don't understand!" he growled to his brothers. "He's making her…"

"We understand," Emmett interrupted him, his voice low. "It's pretty obvious." He gestured to where I sat. "I don't get it, but it's obviously her choice." I was amazed that Emmett, who was always perceived to be juvenile and thick, could read my body language and expression so well.

Edward looked at Jasper. Jasper nodded at him and then looked at me with something like…respect? "It's her choice." He repeated what Emmett had said.

Edward looked at Alice and, after a moment, relaxed in his brother's arms. His posture slumped, resigned, and he looked at the floor, exactly as he had been when I came in the room, minus the horrified expression.

I looked at Carlisle again. "I appreciate your concern, Carlisle." I had a hard time saying it, as angry as I had been by Carlisle's lack of concern for me in September, but I said it as evenly as I could. "I'm staying here."

As the Cullens began to take their leave, with Edward still slumped and staring at the ground, I looked for Alice's face. I found myself wondering what Alice could see, but I didn't dare ask her. I wondered if I really wanted to know the truth. If it wasn't good, if I was going to come to hate it here or if Aro tired of me, would I want to know that? Her eyes met mine as they made their goodbyes, but I couldn't read anything there.

Once they were gone, I made my excuses to the brothers and went to go feed. I could feel all of their eyes boring into me. I was struck suddenly by how odd this must have felt to them, having someone in their court that Aro couldn't simply read with a touch.

I had waved Renata off, wanting to be alone for a few moments, but she came back.

"Renata, I…"

She shushed me and handed me a sealed envelope. I stared down at it and then thanked her. She smiled and left me alone outside the room where I fed.

Seeing Edward Cullen, the first person I had ever loved, had brought up old feelings for me. I felt a tinge of sadness when I considered that by coming here, by accepting Aro's deal, I had lost my chance at what I was sure every teenage girl wanted, to fall in love and get married and all the rest. I know I had wanted that. Instead, I had taken this path, which tied me to a married man who was dangerous, unknowable, and possibly insane. I would be mistress to a man who had a mate. I had lost my chance at that kind of love.

I looked at the note Renata had handed me. Opening it up and reading it, I questioned what I had just assumed to be true. I wasn't _in love_ with Aro, not the way I had loved Edward. But, could I _love_ him?

I had thought that love meant knowing someone, completely, down to their soul. But what if love could be found in the mystery of someone? He was a 3,000-year-old vampire who had met millions of beings and had absorbed every second of every life he touched. He was infinite, unknowable. He would certainly be a constant fascination to me. I could spend forever trying to solve his mystery and never see the end of it. What if love could be found in the act of waiting, patiently, for the next words out of his mouth, for the next story, for the next surprise? To me, he was a jewel with a million facets. Perhaps I could stay drawn to him, as those facets would be able to catch the light for a very long time.

And what of my future? I had some comfort in the thought that I could bring him the peace that he had never had, the chance to touch someone without their every thought bombarding him. I wondered if that would be enough.

I made my way upstairs and, feeling somewhat ill at ease from my doubts, headed to my room. When I got there I was surprised to see that my things were being moved.

"What's going on?" I asked one of the vampires carrying part of my now extensive wardrobe.

"Miss Isabella, Aro has asked us to move you to a new room." The young man walked to the door. "Follow me and I'll show you."

I felt even more afraid until I realized that we were going up several flights of stairs to where Aro's room was. The general rule in the castle was the higher up you were, the more important. The boy led me into a room right next to Aro's.

He stood there, in the middle of the room, ordering vampires around. When he saw me he smiled broadly.

"Ah, Isabella," He reached out his hands to me. "Here you are at last."

I stepped closer to him, looking around at the room. It was quite nice, the same size as his, a beautiful old wooden bed with a white canopy and art that looked suspiciously like it should be in a museum.

"I hope you approve," he said. "I was tired of you being so far away." I looked at him carefully, and I could see some nervousness behind his smile. He couldn't tell whether I liked it or not. It was then that I realized the other piece of the puzzle to explain Alice's note to me.

Aro wouldn't tire of me, because I could continue to surprise and intrigue him. I was as unknowable to him as he was to me. He would never know what I felt or what I thought. He could spend eternity waiting to see what would come out of my mouth next or what I would do. He could unpeel layers, like an onion, but I could always stay a step ahead with my natural love of learning combined with my new vampire speed and memory. Just as he could continue to evolve with each person he touched and absorbed, I could expand the contents of my mind while showing him only silence.

"It is important to me that you be happy here, my Isabella." Aro's voice became intimate and soft. He waved his helpers out and took another step toward me as I regarded the room. "I am conscious of the fact that I am coercing you to stay here, but I would like you to be here by choice." I saw his dilemma. He wanted desperately for me to choose to be here but was too afraid to give me the freedom to make the choice.

"You'll have to let me know what you need to make you happy," he continued, clearly frustrated that I hadn't spoken yet.

I smiled at him lightly and touched the note in my pocket. I moved over to the huge fireplace. Aro had one in his room, too. They were never lit, they just sat there with logs in them, as if vampires could ever get cold.

"I don't understand why you have these," I said, reaching up to the mantle and grabbing a finely engraved box that held matches. "I mean, it seems dangerous to have something so close to you that can hurt you." I gave Aro a sultry smile as I pulled out the note and lit it on fire. I dropped it into the fireplace to watch it burn.

"For the ambiance, I suppose," he answered me, his eyes on the note. "I think it's rather romantic, don't you?" Then he looked at me. "Who was the note from?" He kept his voice light, but there was a definite edge to it.

"Alice," I answered.

"Your little psychic friend," he mused. "What did she have to say?" He phrased it like a piece of idle conversation, but it was clearly not a request.

I thought about the note from Alice. Scrawled in her loopy, pretty handwriting it said: "You will be happy here." It was admirable of her to do that for me, I supposed.

"She just wanted to wish me luck," I said as I walked into his waiting arms.

_**a/n: Well, folks, that's it. I'm going to mark it complete (I do have an Aro POV in the works for some of this travesty but it's unnecessary for your understanding and really just gratuitous perversion.) **_

_**I had to do some editing in the first chapter because apparently I have no idea how a calendar works or how many years an American teenager goes to high school (this despite being a teacher) and I had Bella showing up in Volterra way later than would have been realistic. Oops. This should have all taken place no later than six months after the ending of New Moon. You guys were really polite about the whole thing.  
**_

_**Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and not running away in terror!**_

_**Xoxo JuJu**_


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